ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission has said frequently that the region has a 9,000-unit housing shortage.
If all of the proposals being considered by the Allentown Planning Commission next week come to fruition, more than 10% of that deficit would be erased.
The commission is set to consider four separate plans that call for a combined 1,012 new apartments in the city.
All of the proposals are targeting the same general area: Allentown’s waterfront on the western banks of the Lehigh River.
They are:
A sixteen story, 360-unit apartment building at 249 – 301 N. Front Street.
A seven-story, 210-apartment mixed-use building at 51 N. Front Street.
A seven-story, 200-unit apartment mixed-use building at 1-17 W, Liberty Street and 2-16 W. Allen Street.
And a 242-unit apartment mixed-use building at 115 Riverside Drive.
The properties are currently owned by different variations of an LLC named Lehigh River Development Corp., which is associated with the developer Urban Residential Properties.
A version of the tallest proposed property- the sixteen story building- has been before planners before. Last year, the developer received approval from the Allentown Planning Commission to build the high-rise with 267 apartment units, more than 21,000 square feet of office space; and more than 23,000 square feet of retail space. But the plans have since been revised and now call for more apartments- 360 in total- and less retail space.
The property is the former American Atelier furniture factory. It’s not far from another Urban Residential Properties redevelopment project: the Neuweiler Lofts at 401 N. Front Street, where 283 apartments are rising.
Lehigh River Development Corp. LLC also owns 207 N. Front Street., which is the being converted into the Riverfront Lofts apartments. According to the property’s website, one-, two- and three-bedroom units will be available there this April.
The four proposals are separate from the 29-acre Waterfront development project being led by Jaindl Enterprises. The master plan was recently amended to include less office space and more housing. Construction is currently underway on the 201-apartment River House at 30 E. Allen Street.
The Waterfront’s first completed building was a six-story office building, known as 615 Waterfront, which opened in 2023.
The Allentown Planning Commission meeting is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, March 10 at 12:15 p.m. inside City Council chambers at 435 Hamilton Street.